One hundred and two members of India's Bnei Menashe Jewish community, which claims descent from one of Israel's 10 lost tribes, are scheduled to arrive in Israel this week with the help of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based nonprofit organization that aims to strengthen ties between the Jewish people and descendants of Jews worldwide. Bnei Menashe believe they are the descendants of Jews banished from ancient Israel to India in the eighth century B.C.E. In 2005, then-Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar officially recognized them as a lost tribe. Some 3,000 Bnei Menashe have made aliyah so far, making their home in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth Illit. According to the Jewish Business News, the latest Bnei Menashe immigrants come from the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, which borders Myanmar and Bangladesh, and is home to the second-largest concentration of Bnei Menashe in India after the state of Manipur. They will be the first members of their community to make aliyah since January 2014. Some 7,000 Bnei Menashe remain in India waiting to immigrate to Israel, the report said. The Jewish News Service noted that some 30 Bnei Menashe immigrants are scheduled to arrive in Israel on Feb. 14, and the remaining 72 are expected to arrive on Feb. 16. Michael Freund, Shavei Israel's founder, told the Jewish Business News that his organization was the only one to actively reach out to "lost Jews" in an effort to facilitate their return to Israel. "Over the course of the coming year, God willing, we will bring a total of more than 700 Bnei Menashe immigrants to Israel -- the largest-ever airlift in a single year. After 27 centuries of exile, this lost tribe of Israel is truly coming home. But we will not rest until all the remaining Bnei Menashe still in India are able to make aliyah as well," he said.
102 of Bnei Menashe tribe to immigrate to Israel from India
Members of Bnei Menashe community, who claim descent from one of Israel's 10 lost tribes, will arrive in Israel throughout this week • Bnei Menashe community in Israel numbers some 3,000 people • Aliyah project facilitated by Shavei Israel organization.
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